Fixing responsibility: School loses registration over drowning
12-year-old dies while swimming in school competition.
The students had not been provided with life jackets and other safety equipment to prevent such an incident during the competition. PHOTO:FILE
LAHORE:
Tahira Parveen, The EDO Education, ordered the cancellation of a school’s registration on Thursday.
A two-member team — comprising District Education Officer Iftikhar Cheema and District Education Officer Secondary Education Shahid Iqbal had concluded that negligence on the part of The Lord’s International School System administration had resulted in the death of a 12 year old boy who drowned in a swimming competition held by the school.
The 12 year old boy, Suleman Manzoor Bhatti had been studying in 6th grade at the school. According to his family, Bhatti had come to school on Wednesday morning to take part in a swimming competition held under a summer camp at the school.
Speaking to The Express Tribune, Parveen said that the team, which she constituted on Wednesday, had shared the findings with her later at night after which she had decided that there was negligence on part of the school. According to Parveen, letters had been issued Thursday morning cancelling the school’s registration. In this regard, she said a letter had also been sent to the Lahore Board of Intermediate and Secondary Education.
While the school had closed for summer vacation, a swimming competition had been arranged at the school’s swimming pool in which 10 students were to participate. Parveen added, that the school had, prior to the competition, sought the permission of the parents.
Explaining the grounds for cancellation of the schools’ registration, Parveen said that the school administration had failed to provide any safety equipment to students. “The students had not been provided with life jackets and other safety equipment to prevent any incident during the competition,” she said. Parveen added the school was also guilty of negligence in ensuring that there were vigilant instructors to monitor the students in the pool.
Parveen said, that on Wednesday, the investigation team had also met the school administration and the children who had taken part in the competition. “Both the children and their parents are refusing to share any details of the incident,” she said.
Parveen said the exact details of the incident are still unknown but so far the investigation has revealed that it was an accident. “In any case there should have been safety measures taken by the school administration to ensure that children are safe during such activities,” she said.
Published in The Express Tribune, June 7th, 2013.
Tahira Parveen, The EDO Education, ordered the cancellation of a school’s registration on Thursday.
A two-member team — comprising District Education Officer Iftikhar Cheema and District Education Officer Secondary Education Shahid Iqbal had concluded that negligence on the part of The Lord’s International School System administration had resulted in the death of a 12 year old boy who drowned in a swimming competition held by the school.
The 12 year old boy, Suleman Manzoor Bhatti had been studying in 6th grade at the school. According to his family, Bhatti had come to school on Wednesday morning to take part in a swimming competition held under a summer camp at the school.
Speaking to The Express Tribune, Parveen said that the team, which she constituted on Wednesday, had shared the findings with her later at night after which she had decided that there was negligence on part of the school. According to Parveen, letters had been issued Thursday morning cancelling the school’s registration. In this regard, she said a letter had also been sent to the Lahore Board of Intermediate and Secondary Education.
While the school had closed for summer vacation, a swimming competition had been arranged at the school’s swimming pool in which 10 students were to participate. Parveen added, that the school had, prior to the competition, sought the permission of the parents.
Explaining the grounds for cancellation of the schools’ registration, Parveen said that the school administration had failed to provide any safety equipment to students. “The students had not been provided with life jackets and other safety equipment to prevent any incident during the competition,” she said. Parveen added the school was also guilty of negligence in ensuring that there were vigilant instructors to monitor the students in the pool.
Parveen said, that on Wednesday, the investigation team had also met the school administration and the children who had taken part in the competition. “Both the children and their parents are refusing to share any details of the incident,” she said.
Parveen said the exact details of the incident are still unknown but so far the investigation has revealed that it was an accident. “In any case there should have been safety measures taken by the school administration to ensure that children are safe during such activities,” she said.
Published in The Express Tribune, June 7th, 2013.